Friday, April 2, 2010

Make a Sticky Statement

For as long as there have been vehicles, I am almost sure that they have existed since the invention of automobiles. In actuality, bumper stickers could not have worked until after the creation of Ford's Model A in 1927, which was the first auto to have bumpers. But the bumper sticker actually rose in popularity after World War II when a Kansas City silkscreen printer combined pressure sensitive adhesive and his own printings for one of the first instances of the modern bumper sticker.

In Portland, there is no lack of stickers on vehicles, lamp posts, bicycles, backpacks, and more. At times, Portland can be a city of subtle individuality. Fashion statements are subtle - accessorizing, playing with colors, saying it with texture. When it comes to advertising your personality, stickers are a popular way to get your message across. They range from Keep Portland Weird and Keep Portland Wired to an outline of the state of Oregon with a green heart inside, a smattering of liberal and outspoken statements (Don't Pray in My School and I Won't Think in Your Church comes to mind), and the celebration of local institutions, companies, and trends.

I discovered these stickers on power boxes on Portland's Eastbank Esplanade. They are as diverse as my examples above, one with random and eccentric text and another that haunts with just eyes that stare.